The cast of "Tap Dogs"
Tap Dogs was created by its original leading man, Dein Perry, in 1995. It’s a post-Stomp dance show, with performers in pointedly everyday clothes, thumping rhythms out of the metal platforms, ladders, and good ole wood flooring. But Tap Dogs can’t match the genuinely complex rhythms of Stomp. Instead, its cast make a point of being regular Australian blokes, nothing outrageously special, just your everyday man, in everyday clothing, wearing everyday work boots (with taps on the bottom).
The 90 minute show is anon-stop, plot-free celebration of Aussie-infused, masculine tap. Aside from an occasional mumble, whoop, holler or oh yeah, there is hardly any dialogue and the vaguely suggested setting is a steelworks where the Foreman (Perry) is hanging out with the workers, teaching them moves and occasionally picking up some new ones.
The cast of eight includes; Sheldon Perry, Dean Magri, Nathan Sheens, Ryan Gifford, MacKenzie Greenwell, Travis Knights, Dominic Mortezadeh and Donovan Helma.
As a production, Tap Dogs is smooth, stylish, fast-paced and engaging, with its constantly changing set pieces and fun, upbeat, rock-gig ambience. But its attitude is summed up in a scene where the dancers splash and kick around in a trough, spraying the front few rows of audience members with water.
Top performances include; a basketball routine where the balls thump alongside the performers tapping feet, or a routine where one performer (Travis Knights) is hoisted into the air and begins tap dancing upside down.
Be sure to see Tap Dogs now through September 26. Click here to learn more about the Denver Center for Performing Arts or to check out what other great shows are going on.
Denver Center for the Performing Arts
Buell Theatre
1101 13th St.
Denver, COÂ 80204